Printing Lingo: What are Sell Sheets?

The front of this two-sided Sell Sheet uses colorful images along with a bulleted list of features and benefits


A sell-sheet acts as the tangible counterpart to an elevator pitch, often labeled as a "one-pager." This concise document efficiently presents your product or service, highlighting its solution to a specific problem. To create a compelling sell sheet, prioritize visual appeal and clarity, ensuring it's straightforward and easy to digest. It should succinctly communicate the core message and include a clear, direct call to action.

Sell Sheets are Simple yet Effective

The function of a Sell Sheet is to stimulate consumer interest while conveying a quick "snap shot" of the product or service being offered. Also referred to as Sales Sheets or Promo Sheets, Sell Sheets are almost always produced as an 8.5" x 11" sheet with printing on one or both sides.

Sell Sheets frequently include "beauty shots", which are colorful photos that display a product or concept in an appealing way. In addition to imagery, a Sell Sheet uses brief yet highly-descriptive wording to convey its marketing message. And Sell Sheets usually include the specifications of the product or service as well as some concise technical data.

Like a promotional brochure, most Sell Sheets are printed in full-color on glossy, high-quality paper. However, because a Sell Sheet is created from a single sheet of paper, its content is generally less in-depth than a brochure. Additionally, a Sell Sheet is usually distributed flat (unfolded) for a straightforward presentation to its intended audience.

Sell Sheets are Very Economical

It is common for a company to produce a separate Sell Sheet for each of its products or services. By having separate Sell Sheets for each offering, a salesperson can provide a more focused presentation to the client, thus enhancing the decision-making process. This makes Sell Sheets a practical and economical supplement to the more comprehensive forms of sales literature, such as brochures and catalogs.

Also, because Sell Sheets are generally printed in the popular 8.5" x 11" size, they can often be produced in a gang run to keep the cost as low as possible. Full color is usually recommended for a Sell Sheet, but they can also be produced with a 1-color or 2-color layout on one or both sides to reduce the cost.

If you'd like to explore the many benefits of printed Sell Sheets, give Formax Printing Solutions a call. Whether you need a short run of 500 or a long run of 1,000,000, Formax has the resources you need to produce your Sell Sheets economically.

Take care! Rick

About the Author

Rick Stallings is the owner of Formax Printing Solutions in St. Louis, MO. Formax provides a complete array of offset and digital printing services. Specialty areas include book printing, full-color printing, laminated printing, map printing and mailing services. If you ever have a printing question or project you would like to discuss, Rick is always happy to help. He can be reached at 866-367-6221 or by submitting our easy quote request form. Rick and the Formax team have been providing worry-free printing and related services since 1985.

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